Family Reunions - Part 2 - Fundraising and Genealogy

In yesterday’s post, I gave you a look into our Kowalsky
family reunion. The large weekend affair
has incorporated many a fun event. I also gave you some of my tips for organizing a reunion. Today, I would like to focus in on some of the fundraising we have
done in the past and how it has helped offset the costs of our reunion making
them affordable. As well how we incorporate our genealogy into some of our events in order to keep our family history alive.

Yard Sales

One of our first fundraisers was a family yard sale. The
family in Canada donated household items for a giant sale while the family in
the United States did the same. We
raised about a $1000.00, however, this was a lot of work. As the years passed,
we got smarter.

The Silent Auction

Now our biggest fundraiser is a silent auction. Months in
advance, family members are encouraged to create a hand-made item to put on the
auction table. The kind of things we see on the table include, knitting,
painting, woodworking, jewellery, stained glass windows, stepping stones,
framed pictures etc. We have some very talented people in our family and
usually there a number of items that become hot items. Bidding usually starts
by mid-day on Saturday with the bids closing out by Sunday afternoon. We usually raise over $2000.00 and the money
goes into the bank to get us started on the next reunion.

A Family Cookbook

Although a family
cookbook is a small fundraiser, because frankly the cost of producing the book
leaves little room for profit, however, they are very popular. Family members
submit their favourite recipes to a co-ordinator months in advance. They are
then printed and sold at the reunion. I would advise taking pre-orders so you
don’t have too many leftovers sitting in your basement. This was also a wonderful
way to incorporate genealogy, as many old-fashioned handed down recipes showed
up in the book. The book was also filled with trivia questions about the
family. We held a contest, if you mingle throughout the crowd during the
weekend and answered all the questions you got a prize.

The Quilt

One year I brought fabric paints, and a whole bunch of
fabric squares. We set up a table in the shade and throughout the weekend, the
children were encouraged to be creative on the fabric squares. At the end of the weekend, we gathered up the
squares and took them home. Five years later, we returned with all those squares
sewn together in the form of a quilt. We sold raffle tickets for the quilt and
it soon became the prized possession for one of my cousins. She says she will hold onto it for a few
years, (she has it displayed on a wall in a guest bedroom and her guests say it
even glows in the dark). She intends on returning it to the reunion at some
point in the future and raffling it off again to another family member.

The Family History Genealogy Table and DVD

In recent years, we started a genealogy table, with pedigree
charts and pictures, in future years, we will offer updates to the family
history book and display any new genealogy finds we have made over the past 5
years.

Some wonderful ideas for incorporating genealogy into your
reunion can also include a slide show. Last year, we did this at the Kowalsky
Reunion. Family members were encouraged to bring past family reunion photos on
a CD, in the evening; we projected them in a slide show on the side of the
barn.

For the Desmarais family reunion, that only took place a few
short weeks ago, we took this one-step further.
My uncle was known for taking 8mm videos at family reunions. We took
those old films to a professional photographer and turned them into a DVD. This
cost us approximately $200.00. At the family reunion, we also had our own little drive-in theatre and projected the movies onto the side of the barn. After
the movie, we sold copies for $10.00 each.
They sold out and we more than covered the cost of transferring the 8mm
to DVD format.

In terms of genealogy, the DVD is a wonderful way to share a
family history. Those 8mm tapes had images of ancestors long gone, including a
great-grandmother and great-grandfather that many of us had never met, as well
as an aunt and a couple of uncles who had past along with grandparents who had passed over 40 years ago. It brought back great memories
for many of us, and for the younger generation, it introduced them to ancestors
they had only heard about.

The Penny Sale

The Penny Sale, this is a popular fundraiser at the
Vaillancourt Family Reunion. The kids
really enjoy it; however, it does not make as much money as the silent auction.
Everyone is asked to bring an item to donate to the table, than family members
buy penny sale cards. At the end of the day, winners are announced.

A Photographer

If you have a family member that is a great photographer, I
encourage you to set up an area for family photos. As the family historian, I loved
this idea. We recently did this at Desmarais Family Reunion and now I have an
updated copy of everyone for my genealogy database and my next family history book. One family member took the pictures another
set up the people for the shoot so it moved along nice and quickly and didn’t
consume the day.

The Desmarais Sisters

Finally, I want to touch on a comment from a reader
yesterday, who said her family had lost interest in their family reunion. She wanted some ideas. My first thought is
don’t hold your reunions every year,
they become tiresome, spread them out every 3 or 5 years, and turn them into a event that family members do not want to miss
out on. I would suggest a Family Reunion Facebook page. This is a great
way to keep family up to date on the plans and create some excitement. For our family, competitive as they are, it
usually results in some challenges as we move closer to the big day.

Getting the next generation
involved is highly important to sustaining a family reunion throughout future
years, and making sure the task does not fall to the same few people
continually keeps the family from burning out.

Reunion planning is a large task, but very
rewarding, and I know appreciated by your family.

Your quilt reminds me of something my husband's family has done a couple of times. They bring a new light colored tablecoth to the reunion and have everyone sign it. Then someone takes it and embroiders everyone's signatures. It is priceless to see the tablecloth from 40-50 years ago!

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